More and
Better Online Info on Plant Names, Noxious Weeds

Up-to-date scientific information on
certain plants is now available on an improved, user-friendly, multilingual web
site developed by Agricultural Research
Service scientists.

The site, developed by botanist John H. Wiersema and colleagues at the
ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology
Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., includes the correct common and scientific
names of economically important vascular plants and information about their
use.

So far, the web pages devoted to economic plants and their uses--a subset of
GRIN taxonomy--comprise scientific information on 9,356 of the most important
plant species from 2,616 genera and 290 families. The economic coverage
includes plants or plant products traded, regulated, or otherwise directly or
indirectly important to international commerce.

Several search engines help users find information using various
criteria--such as genus, common name and economic use (such as food, fiber,
forage, timber, fuel, spice, genetic, medical, ornamental and social uses).

More than 75,000 literature citations are cross-referenced to the names of
economic plants alone. The researchers have also developed Spanish and
Portuguese versions of many of the web pages, with French and German
translations on the way.

Another new web page provides access to a specialized segment of the GRIN
database devoted to information on noxious weeds. Both taxonomy web pages are
part of the GRIN database, which includes over 62,000 botanical names of mainly
economic plants. They can be accessed from: